Regarding the order given by Sokov, Briski replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, don't worry, although our heads have turned into a sea of fire, we are still very safe in the tunnel..."
Sokov was obviously not as optimistic as Brisky. What he was thinking about was that the burning oil tanks in Beigang would definitely produce a large amount of toxic gases. If these gases were allowed to pour into the tunnels, thousands of commanders and fighters inside would be killed.
He died of suffocation, so he decisively ordered Briskey: "Comrade Captain, immediately arrange manpower to block the hole on the east slope. We will never let the toxic gas produced by burning oil enter your tunnel. Understood.
?"
"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander." After hearing Sokov's order, Briski immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly replied: "I will personally lead people to block all the holes on the east side."
Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin reported to him with a face of surprise: "Comrade Brigadier, our machine gunners shot down six enemy planes and damaged two more..."
"Oh, they fought so well?!" Sokov agreed to send machine gunners out to shoot from the air at that time, but he was just seeking medical treatment in a hurry, but he did not expect to achieve such results. However, he thought that the machine gun and the aircraft were in the air.
During the battle, he was always at a disadvantage. After shooting down so many German aircraft, the machine gunners may have lost all their chances. Thinking of this, he asked with a heavy heart: "What are the casualties of the machine gunners?"
Unexpectedly, when Sidorin heard this question, he shook his head and said proudly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you must not have imagined that our machine gunners achieved such results without any casualties!"
"What, there are no casualties?" When Sokov heard Sidorin say this, he felt that the other party was simply insulting his IQ, so he couldn't help but raise his voice: "Eight German aircraft were shot down and damaged, but our army did not.
How is this possible if there are any casualties? Comrade Chief of Staff, don’t make up these unreliable intelligence just to make me happy.”
"Comrade Brigadier, how can you doubt me like this?" The smile on Sidorin's face gradually disappeared, and he said to Sokov with a straight face: "Whether there are any casualties in the army, you can tell at a glance when you go out, how can you
Are you saying I cheated on you?"
Seeing that Sidorin was angry, Sokov realized that what he just said might be a bit excessive, and quickly apologized to him and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, what I just said may not be appropriate, please forgive me! But
I really can’t think of how our machine gunners could maintain zero casualties under the indiscriminate bombardment of German bombers.”
"Comrade Brigadier, let me explain it to you." Belkin saw the smell of gunpowder between Sokov and Sidorin, and quickly came out to smooth things over: "The German bomber group came from the west, and we
The air defense positions established by the machine gunners are set up on the east slope. Enemy planes cannot detect them before flying over the hills. Even if they are discovered, the bombs dropped by the enemy planes will fall at the foot of the mountains under the action of inertia.
Explosion, but unable to damage our air defense positions..."
After hearing Belkin's explanation, Sokov finally understood: "Comrade Political Commissar, I understand what you mean. If the enemy plane wants to destroy our position on the east slope, it must turn around in the air after flying over the hills.
Only by dropping bombs can we hit our anti-aircraft positions, and when they fly over the hills or air-head over the Volga River, our anti-aircraft positions can shoot them down. Do I understand correctly?"
"Yes, that's it." When Belkin said this, he also glanced at Sidorin, who looked unhappy: "Now you understand why our troops were able to shoot down so many German planes.
, can we still maintain the record of zero casualties?"
After the misunderstanding was resolved, Sokov felt that such results should be reported to the Army Headquarters. He quickly called a communications staff officer and ordered: "Get me to the Army Headquarters. I want to report this good news to the commander."
Unexpectedly, after a while, the communications staff reported to Sokov with a grimace: "I'm sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander, there seems to be a problem with the phone line. We can't get in touch with the army headquarters."
"Since there is a problem with the phone line, why are you still standing here?" When Sidorin heard the counselor say this, he suddenly got angry and said to the other party: "Why don't you take someone to check the line...
"
Seeing the communications staff officer agreeing, he was about to go outside. Sokov met and called him. Then he said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if you listen to the explosions outside, you can guess that the German army has dispatched a large number of troops."
Planes bombed the city, and the communication lines in the city must have been severely damaged. Even if people were sent out to check the lines, they would not be able to contact the headquarters."
"The wired telephone is not working. We still have a radio station. We can communicate with the headquarters through the radio station." Sidorin said, walked to a radio station and ordered the operator: "Comrade operator, send a report to the group army headquarters immediately.
, report our situation here to them.”
But a few minutes later, the radio operator shook his head and replied: "Sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, we cannot get in touch with the radio station of the Army Headquarters."
The operator's words made the expressions on the faces of Belkin and Sidorin turn livid. Belkin walked to Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Brigadier, do you think there will be an incident at the Army Headquarters?"
What accident?"
Although Sokov knew that Chuikov did not have any accidents in this cruel defense battle and survived until the war and became a Marshal of the Soviet Union, at this moment he did not know how to answer Belkin's question. You know
, in real history, Chuikov's headquarters was located at Mamaev Hill, and due to his appearance, he moved the headquarters to a tunnel called "Tsaritsyn Cave" in advance.
Whether it can survive this major bombing is really unknown.
When Sidorin saw that Sokov was silent and that he could not get in touch with the army headquarters, the expression on his face became serious. He walked quickly to Sokov and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander,
Please allow me to take a few soldiers to the city to check the situation so that we can restore contact with the headquarters as soon as possible."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I cannot agree to your request." Regarding Sidorin's request, Sokov rejected it without hesitation: "The enemy planes are bombing outside indiscriminately, and I have no right to let you take your own life.
Go take risks. As for the situation at the Army Group Headquarters, I will send someone to check it out after the enemy's bombing ends."
In order to prevent Sidorin from making requests to him again, Sokov turned around and walked out of the headquarters, walking along the corridor towards the east exit. When the soldiers guarding the exit saw Sokov walking over alone, they first carried
She saluted him with her hand, and then stretched out her hand to block his way.
Sokov glanced at the soldier and asked displeasedly: "What, you are new here, don't you know me?"
"Comrade Brigadier, of course I know you." The soldier replied respectfully: "I have joined your army since Kursk."
Seeing that the soldier knew him, but wanted to block his way, Sokov asked puzzledly: "Since you know me, why are you blocking my way?"
The soldier replied: "Comrade Brigadier, the Germans are bombing outside. I can't let you go out and take risks."
As soon as he finished speaking, a bomb fell and exploded more than ten meters away from the cave entrance, causing the soil on the roof of the cave to plop down. Sokov raised his hand and patted the soil on his shoulder, and said loudly to the soldier
: "Don't worry, I'll just check at the entrance of the cave. There won't be any danger."
When the soldier heard what Sokov said, he turned aside and got out of the way, but he still said uneasily: "Comrade Commander, you can't go too far, otherwise if something happens, I will
I can’t afford that responsibility.”
Sokov came outside the cave and saw three anti-aircraft positions not far away. The machine gunners were concentrating on shooting the enemy planes flying in the air. Even if they could not shoot them down, they still had to drive them far away and not let them go.
They came to bomb Mamayev Kurgan.
Sokov found a safe place and looked towards Beigan a few hundred meters away. He saw that most of the hills had turned into a sea of fire. The oil flowing out of the tank immediately burned when it encountered an open flame. It burned.
The oil flowed down the hillside into the Volga River, causing the entire river to be filled with blazing flames. Except for a few ships parked on the riverside that sailed to the other side with flames, the rest were parked on the docks and burning brightly in the sky.
The fire and smoke were occasionally mixed with the explosion of ammunition. When he saw this scene, Sokov couldn't help but worry about the soldiers and civilians hiding near the dock. He didn't know how many people would be burned by the flames.
Death, death from thick smoke, or death from explosives.
He turned around and raised his telescope and looked towards the city center. He saw streets and buildings ablaze with fire. From time to time, he could see buildings collapsing in the light of the fire. The streets were crowded with people fleeing.
Residents, dragging their families and families with them, ran aimlessly along the streets. They would not stop running until they were knocked down by thick smoke or killed by bombs falling from the sky.
Seeing thousands of families shrouded in the shadow of disaster and death, Sokov couldn't help but feel like a knife and his nose felt sore. After wiping his face with his hand, Sokov turned and walked into the tunnel.
The soldiers guarding the door saw Sokov returning to the tunnel, and the stone hanging in their hearts finally fell to the ground.
When Sokov returned to the headquarters, Belkin immediately came up to him and asked anxiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, where have you been? We are looking for you everywhere. We thought something happened to you."
Sokov returned to his seat and sat down. He looked up at Belgin and Sidorin and said, "I just went outside to take a look."
"What, you went outside?" Belkin was shocked when he heard what Sokov said: "The bombing outside is still going on, how can you run out and take risks?"
Sokov did not answer Belkin's question, but said to himself: "Not only the Mamayev Hills, but also the entire urban area has become a sea of fire. I estimate that the communication lines of the headquarters must be bombing."
It has been completely destroyed, and our contact with the outside world has been cut off."
Sidorin and Chuikov had a good personal relationship. When he learned that the situation in the city was also very bad, and then thinking about the communication interruption, he couldn't help asking worriedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think the lives of the Commander and others are in danger?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and said: "The army headquarters is in the tunnel. As long as they are not directly hit by the ground-penetrating bombs used by the Germans, they will not be in any danger."
While the three were discussing, a radio operator suddenly said loudly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff, I received a telegram from the Front Army Headquarters."
A telegram from the Front Army Headquarters?! Everyone was stunned when they heard what the telegraph operator said. Fortunately, Sokov quickly came to his senses, and he quickly ordered the telegraph operator: "Translate the telegram immediately."
The operator agreed, and in less than a minute, he translated the telegram and placed it in front of Sokov. After reading the telegram, Sokov raised his head and looked at Belkin and Sidorin and said
: "This is a telegram sent by General Yereomenko, commander of the front army. He said that they saw on the other side that the city had turned into a sea of flames, and they could not get in touch with Commander Chuikov's headquarters, so they suspected that the city had been destroyed.
Fall..."
Before Sokov finished speaking, Sidorin hurriedly said: "Why did the front army headquarters make such an arbitrary judgment? We were only bombed by the Germans here, but the enemy did not break into the city. Even if they did
Once we enter the city, we will never hand it over to them easily, we will fight bravely until the last person."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a moment, please wait a moment." Sokov quickly interrupted the impassioned Sidorin and said to him: "I haven't finished reading the telegram. Because I lost contact with the group army headquarters, not only the front army
The headquarters made this judgment, and even the headquarters of the Supreme Command came to the same conclusion, believing that the city had been lost."
"Then what should we do?" Hearing that the base camp also judged that the city had been lost, Sidorin's mood became depressed. He weakly asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, how should we reply to the front army headquarters? To
You know, we still don’t know what the situation is like at the Army Group Headquarters and other units.”
Sokov held the telegram in his hand and walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about how to reply to the telegram from the front army headquarters. After walking back and forth for more than a dozen times, he stopped and looked at Belgin.
After staying with Sidorin for a while, he walked up to the operator and said decisively: "Comrade operator, call back to the front army headquarters and say that Stalingrad has not fallen and we are still continuing to fight. We will absolutely
We will not hand the city over to the enemy easily."